Читать книгу Launching Your Autistic Youth to Successful Adulthood - Katharina Manassis - Страница 17

One universal truth about goal-setting is this: the earlier you start, the better! Even if goals have to be modified over time, discussing goals and long-term plans throughout the high school years sets the expectation that the young person will continue to grow and develop beyond graduation. That expectation of continued growth and change is invaluable. Over forty years of educational research have shown that teacher expectations of students early in the school year relate to how well those students do academically by the end of the school year. Parental expectations have recently been found to affect child outcomes too, especially when the child appears vulnerable in some way (Briley et al. 2014). In short, setting a positive expectation regarding your child’s further development increases the chances it will actually happen.

Starting early also allows time to try out different options before having to pursue them seriously. For instance, if your child is considering working in a library, she could do a cooperative education placement in this setting during high school to test out this career choice. If he is fascinated with reptiles, he could volunteer at a zoo to learn about work related to this interest. Some high school courses also offer practical experience related to possible long-term goals. Cooking, wood shop, landscaping, and photography courses are just some examples. This early experimentation with different types of work and work environments is particularly important in those who have developmental delays. If your child is very bright and university-bound, some career decisions can be sorted out in those post-secondary years. If your child is likely to seek work or vocational training right after high school, there is a greater need to find an area of long-term interest while still in high school.

If it is possible to obtain part-time work related to the young person’s interests, that’s ideal. Working part time in high school is one of the best predictors of long-term career success (Carter, Austin and Trainor 2012). Don’t be discouraged if finding paid employment is difficult though, as employers are often more amenable to offering young people with disabilities volunteer opportunities than paid work (an issue discussed further in Chapter 5).

If you didn’t start planning early in high school, don’t be too self-critical. Educators are partly responsible for helping with post-secondary transitions too, and it’s never too late to start the process. Just read on and start now!

Begin with goals related to the young person’s interests and ambitions. Youth are often willing to go outside their comfort zone to achieve these goals. In addition, try the following:

• Find an aspect of achieving your youth’s goal that you feel has value. For example, if your youth’s goal is to collect every video related to dinosaurs in a particular series in order to prepare for eventually becoming a paleontologist, which you are not sure is realistic, discuss what is needed to complete the collection. Perhaps some of the videos are only available in a store or library across town. Point out that you are too busy to drive across town, but would be willing to demonstrate how to use the bus. If your youth’s goal of completing the collection can support your goal of getting them to use public transit independently, you can work together with minimal frustration on both sides.

• Use modest, day-to-day goals to see if larger goals are feasible. Completing a collection or including a new activity in the daily routine may seem modest, but can help test the waters to see if larger goals are feasible for you and your child. In the previous example, a young person who cannot learn to use the bus is unlikely to manage a college program in paleontology, let alone flying to the Gobi Desert to dig for fossils. On the other hand, finishing the collection successfully might lead to a class presentation on paleontology, and subsequent work with a guidance counselor to plan for the academic prerequisites needed in that field. Small, modest steps allow people to show what they are capable of doing, and sometimes youth with ASD do surprisingly well when challenged in an area which fascinates them.

• Rather than stressing about the lofty goals of employment and further education, emphasize small goals which get the young person out of the house. Most autistic youth function best when they have one or more regular, daily activities away from home, and you may welcome the break from your autistic youth at this time too. The routine of getting out into the real world each day, whether for a job, volunteer work, or just a regular fitness or arts program helps with emotional stability for young people on the autism spectrum, and keeps them from spending too much time in their own minds. As most activities involve at least some social contact, socialization may improve as well.

• You, on the other hand, can use the time your son or daughter spends with others to pursue your own interests, enjoy time with your partner, or just fit in home maintenance and other necessary activities. When your youth returns, you will be less stressed than before and ready to deal with their needs again, whatever they may be. Parent–child relationships are often less strained when they are not continuous 24 hours a day.

• When setting goals, start with one or two rather than half a dozen. Every goal requires some deviation from daily routine, which requires a great deal of effort for autistic individuals. Tackling more than two goals at a time is usually overwhelming for them.

• It may be overwhelming for you too! As a parent, expect to be coach as well as cheerleader when it comes to new goals. Neurotypical young adults often do better with encouragement alone (i.e. cheerleading) as they may find specific suggestions intrusive or condescending. Young adults on the autism spectrum, however, may need specific guidance (i.e. coaching) even if their intelligence is in the normal range. Their fascination with objects or fantasies rather than people limits the ability to learn by observation. For example, when learning to bake a neurotypical youth may automatically grease the cookie sheet before putting dough on it based on observing a parent do this. By contrast, an autistic youth may need specific instructions to do so. Many apparently simple tasks must follow this model: spell out what is needed step by step, then patiently practice it together before expecting the young person to perform it independently. Most of us are too busy to engage in this process more than once or twice a day, hence the need to limit the number of concurrent goals.